Charter has identified 230 downed cable lines in town with 75 of them on the trucks Tuesday scheduled for repair in Newtown, company officials said.
With still 1,000 downed cable lines across the state, Charter is bringing in additional crews this week and weekend to assist with restoration, a company spokeswoman said.
Charter doesn't have any specific estimates on restoration for Newtown or the state but repair work is being done, spokeswoman Heidi Vandenbrouck said.
"Our crews are out there," she said.
In some cases, cable restoration depends on the full return of electricity to an area due to downed utility poles and other damage that Connecticut Light & Power must fix before any Charter work can begin. Across the state, there remains 2,500 Charter customers without commercial power, the company said. CL&P reports outages to be affecting about 50 customers in Newtown as of 7 a.m., Tuesday.
In other cases where Charter service is out, it is the communications, and not the electrical wire, that is damaged and must be replaced by the cable company. Across its service area in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and New Hampshire, Charter has identified more than 10,000 damaged cable lines since the historic October snow storm hit, the company said.
In Connecticut, the company has solicited help from crews from Texas as well a crew arriving this weekend from Michigan and equipment from Atlanta, Vandenbrouck said. Line damage is extensive in the state, she said, adding that the company has identified 1,000 damaged wires that still must be replaced.
The company has set up a wifi hot spot in its Walk-in and Service Center at 9 Commerce Road in Newtown. The wifi service is available to the public inside the service center as well as in the parking lot around the clock. Computer stations also are available during business hours inside the Walk-in and Service Center.
"We are looking for customers to reach out to us as well if they have downed cable lines so we can get their services restored as soon as possible," Vandenbrouck said in an e-mail. "We are doing everything we can to get customers services restored quickly and safely."
If there is a downed cable line in your area, contact Charter at 888-GET-CHARTER (888-438-2427) or email at charterrecovery@chartercom.com
Editor's note: This article has been updated to include the number of downed cable lines in Newtown.
